Cora's Kitchen: Easy Italian Pasta Bake

I love the recipes on the Kraft Foods website.  You can usually find something that is super easy, super yummy, and super as leftovers.  We have tried the Easy Italian Pasta Bake several times now.  I always use standard white pasta, and this time, I sauteed some green peppers and onions and mixed it in the bake.  Yummy!  Here is the basic recipe from the website, but you can do your own version, too.  Pepperoni, mushrooms, garlic cloves, or sausage are all yummy extras that can be added to this recipe.  Enjoy!


Easy Italian Pasta Bake from Kraft Foods
1 pound of extra lean ground beef
3 cups of whole wheat penne pasta, cooked and drained
1 jar (26 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1/3 cup KRAFT grated Parmesan Cheese, divided
1 1/2 cups KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Brown meat in large skillet; drain. Add pasta, sauce, and 1/2 Parmesan; mix well.  Spoon into 13x9-inch dish; top with remaining cheeses.  Bake 20 minutes or until heated through. 

Cora's Kitchen: BeeBee Bread

Farm Bureau women sure do know how to cook.  You know if it is from a farmer's wife, it must be tasty.  This is a biscuit bread recipe that my Mama gave me that she learned from our friend Mrs. BeeBee Ruark (hence the name we have given the recipe...BeeBee Bread).

I use my Mama Cora's iron skillet for this recipe.  Mama Cora is my late grandmother on my Daddy's side.  I miss her everyday, but I know her spirit, humor, and love is always with me.  Sometimes things that happen during the day make me crack up and I always wonder what she would have said if she heard or saw the same thing I did.  We always had the tendency of laughing at the same things.  Cooking with her pans and with her recipes is a way that continue to remember this wonderful woman.  In fact, the "Cora's Kitchen" recipe entries are named after her.  I always have said that my "retirement" job would be to have a bakery and a cafe that I would name "Cora's Kitchen".  "Cora" is my grandmother's first name which I am so blessed to share with her and carry on for her, and "Kitchens" is my grandmother's maiden name.  Perfect, huh?  My dream of "Cora's Kitchen" is a way of keeping the memories I have with her in the kitchen alive and sharing them with others.  But for now, I will stick with a virtual "Cora's Kitchen" to continue to bring you and others ideas of how to bring the family around the dinner table...something that my grandmother was always able to do with her special ingredient--Love!

So, the BeeBee Bread is a great recipe to do just that.  I promise, the family will keep coming back for more (...well, at least Jared does which made my heart smile!).

BeeBee Bread

1 stick of margarine
2 cups of self-rising flour
1 cup of butter milk (or sweet milk...which is regular milk)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Melt the margarine by placing one stick of margarine in the iron skillet and place the skillet in the oven while the oven is preheating.  While the margarine is melting, mix together two cups of self-rising flour and one cup of buttermilk.   (Note:  Just mix the flour and milk without over working the mixture into a stiff dough.  This will keep the finished product fluffy.)  When the margarine is melted, pull the skillet out of the oven.  Put the mixture in the skillet on top of the melted butter.  Work the mixture around the skillet until the bottom of the skillet is covered.  (Note:  You will want the butter to leak over the sides of the bread to make crispy edges.  That is what makes this bread awesome!!).  Also, poke holes in the batter to allow the butter to seep through the bread.  Place the skillet back in the oven and back for 20 minutes.  When golden brown on top, remove from the oven.  I then inverse the bread from the skillet on to a serving plate.  From there, allow the family to just pull the bread apart.  Serve with more butter (...There ya go. You Paula Deen, you...more butter) OR jelly/jam/honey.  Enjoy!

Here is a picture of the finished product...well...after Jared already helped himself.  He just couldn't wait to give me time to get the camera...yet another clue that this is good stuff!!

A B C...Baby you and me!

"A" is for AGHON--Zeb (Corrie's brother) was inducted into the AGHON, The University of Georgia's Agricultural Honorary Society, on Saturday morning.  A junior, Zeb is an Animal and Dairy Science Major. A few of his activities and leadership roles include an member of Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity and a CAES Ambassador.  We are very proud of all of his accomplishments and blessed to call him "brother."  Jared and I (Corrie) attended the breakfast honoring the new members of AGHON with the Duvall parents (Corrie's parents).  At the breakfast, Zeb had to recite a poem and sing...yes...SING.  I have to say, he didn't do too bad.  I was shocked!  Hahahaha...poor boy couldn't carry a tune in a bucket if he wanted to.  Also, my Daddy was the guest speaker.  He gave an excellent and inspiring speech about the importance of relationships.  It was a great family experience.  Congratulations Zeb!  We love you and are proud of you.

"B" is for BETWEEN THE HEDGES--After the AGHON breakfast, Jared and I went to cheer on the Dawgs for their homecoming game.  It was a great game day experience.  Chills from the battle hymn of the Bulldog Nation being played in the southwest corner of Sanford Stadium and Bulldogs young and old...and I mean OF ALL AGES...reliving and living their college days.  Mom even got to meet the oldest living AGHON member and the oldest active living UGA male cheerleader at the AGHON breakfast.  He is full of spunk and energy.  He even told Mom that he had emailed Coach Richt and told the coach that he would be running out the Dawgs.  And, if the coach needed him to slow down to just let him know.  "But," he told Mom, "You know that rascal didn't even email me back!"  What a character and what a great spirit!  Below is a picture with Mom and the "Marine Dawg" and a picture of Jared and me at the stadium.

"C" is for CABIN--We wrapped up our weekend at the Terry Family cabin with Jared's brother Seth.  The guys got to spend some time together, watch some football, and do a little outside work.  Being up there make me so excited about Christmas time when the whole family will get to be together.

What a great weekend together.  Together as a couple and together with family.  We are so blessed!

Do, Ray, Me. A B C...Baby you and me!

Cora's Kitchen: White Chicken and Spinach Pizza

A long time ago, I told my Aunt Hannah that when I got married, I would like a cookbook of family recipes.  And, bless her heart...that is just what she did. So, tonight we had a recipe that was given to us by my cousin Nicole and it was yummy!!  As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, we used spinach and Alfredo sauce in the Spinach and Artichoke dip, but the recipe did  not call for the use of all of the ingredients.  Well, this recipe was a great compliment to the dip dish this week because it called for the remaining spinach and Alfredo sauce.  The recipe is below.

3/4 cup prepared spinach or 1 1/2 cup broccoli
2 cups of cooked chicken (I used canned)
1/2 cup pre-sliced mushrooms (optional)
1 cup Alfredo sauce
12 oz. baked pizza crust
2 cups shredded Italian blend cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese or Swiss cheese
1 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp garlic salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Place spinach/broccoli into large bowl.  Cut or tear chicken and add to bowl.  Stir in mushroom and Alfredo sauce.  Place pizza crust on pizza pan or stone and spread chicken sauce mixture evenly over crust to within 1/2 inch of the edge.  Spread both cheeses evenly over pizza, sprinkle with basil, oregano, and garlic salt.  Bake 15-20 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly, slice, and serve.

Thanks, Nicole!  We loved it!

Cora's Kitchen: Appetizer Night

Skin.  Going in for a dip.  Hot chicks--tan and in a hot tub.  This is not a man's day dream of the beach, this is our dinner.  That's right.  It was appetizer night--potato skins, hot wings, and spinach artichoke dip.  And, all with two dishes in the crock pots (one of my favorite touches!) and the other in a long slow cook in the oven.  Easy. Yummy.  And, a full and happy husband.  Mission accomplished!

The hot wings were so tender that they were falling off the bone.  I used a recipe I found online .  Of course, I tweaked the recipe just a tad.  I used fresh winglets (yay for not cutting through the bone...eeekkk!).  The winglets package was only 1.5 pounds, so I had to cut the recipe in half.   And, even though I used fresh not frozen chicken, I still baked as the recipe says for the "fried-like" texture.  I "tanned the chicks" by drizzling them with some EVOO and dashing them with some S&P (Sorry Rachael Ray...there was no over the should for luck.  Next time...next time!).  Also, I used Texas Pete Buffalo Wing instead of the brand name mentioned in the recipe.  They were super easy.  Tan and plunge them in the crock pot hot tub of buffalo sauce.  Jared enjoyed them.  I will cook chicken on the bone, but I don't like to eat it.  Labor of love!

Remember the bacon from last night's salad?  I fried the whole package last night and it made an appearance in tonight's dinner and will make another guest appearance tomorrow night.    Tonight it was on the potato skins.  I followed this recipe. 

I also whipped up a little something so the chips to take a dip.  I followed this recipe I found online.  It was painless...except that it calls for the use of two ingredients where you don't use the whole container.  That really burns my biscuits when that happens!  But...no fear, you know I have a plan.  The remaining spinach and Alfredo sauce will be transformed and used in Sunday's recipe.  Check us out later to see how these ingredients are used again.

Speaking of checking something out...Check out these chicks!

Cora's Kitchen: Lunch/Dinner Combo--Chicken BLT Club Salad + Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Anyone who cooks for two knows that it is hard to cook for two WITHOUT having a lot of leftovers.  Meats are usually prepackaged with more meat than TWO need.  Recipes are usually written for four instead of TWO.

So, what is a newlywed to do

when cooking only for TWO?

Throw it out with the trash?

Create a stash?

Create a compost pile?

Hope the leftovers keep for a while?

Be sad, be blue?

No...I say....make something new!

So, what is a newlywed to do

when cooking only for TWO?

Double duty your food

With a positive attitude.

It's thrifty.  It's a deal.

Dinner and lunch.  Two dishes made at one meal.

Tonight I used chicken.  So, I made a Chicken BLT Club Salad for dinner with half of the chicken and with the other half, I made chicken salad for sandwiches.  The BLT Chicken Salad is a recipe that I found on www.kraftfoods.com.  With a few added punches to "Terry-fy" it (...but not scare it away..ha!), it was fantastic.   We used Romaine lettuce and fresh chicken breast tenderloins (which were on sale at Kroger, of course) marinated in Italian dressing.  The recipe also calls for tomatoes and bacon.  We also changed things up by adding Italian cheeses, onions, and boiled egg whites.  We each chose our own dressings.  Below is a picture of the salad.

While half of the chicken for the salad was on the indoor grill, I boiled the other half of the chicken to make chicken salad for sandwiches for lunch tomorrow.  And, as the I boiled two eggs for the salads, I dropped two more eggs for the chicken salad sandwiches.  After dinner, as Jared was doing the dishes (what a sweet husband!!!), I mixed but the chicken salad for the sandwiches.  Using the Mix N' Chop that Mrs. Terry gave us (ahhh...such an amazing tool!!), I chopped the chicken in the storage container.  With a few rough chops of the some dill pickles and the the boiled eggs and a few tablespoons of mayonnaise, we had chicken salad for lunch tomorrow. (See below)

So, what is a newlywed to do

when cooking only for TWO?

Be sad, be blue?

No...I say....make something new!

Double duty your food.  Double duty your time.
I hope you are inspired and you enjoyed the rhyme.

Cora's Kitchen: Peppercorn and Garlic Slow Cooker Pork Roast

Cha-ching...pork loin was on sale at Kroger again this week.  But, as you know, a plain pork loin needs a little love "Paula Deen on a Smithfield commercial-style".  So, that is what I did after reading several recipes online for slow cooker pork roasts.  Combining several of the ideas that I read, I marinated the pork loin in a Peppercorn and Garlic McCormick Grill Mates (newsflash...these are not just for grills).  I followed the directions on the package except I did not add the vinegar.   Then, the meat chilled out in the fridge in a marinade mud bath while I did some chopping and got the slow cooker going.  In a slow cooker, I started heating up the hot tub for the pork with one can of chicken broth, one sliced onion, and six cloves of garlic halved.  After 15 minutes of marinating, it was time to brown the pork loin to give it a nice crisp.  Thank you Alex Guarnschelli from Food Network for that tip.  Hopefully by following that tip, this dish won't get me "chopped."  So, in a skillet I heated some EVOO over medium heat and seared the pork loin on all sides giving it a nice brown crisp.  Once it had browned on all sides, I placed the pork on top of the onions  in the crock pot, and this is how it looked (below).

After cooking in the crock pot on high for 3 hours, the onions softened and the pork was so tender that it just pulled apart.  I didn't take a picture of the finished product in the crock pot (...sorry), but here is a shot of how Jared's plate looked (below). 

I am so excited about leftovers tomorrow.  Jared will have the leftover pork, and I will have the leftover onions and broth transformed as some french onion soup.

In the words of Rachael Ray, I say..."YUMMO!"

Dawgs Spooked on Halloween

This past weekend we traveled to St. Simons Island and Jacksonville, FL for a weekend of cheering on the Dawgs with the Duvall parents.

With Jared's navigational skills, we made it to our tailgating spot in plenty of time to get a good view of all the fans in their tailgating/Halloween best (... and worst).  Our tailgating parking spot was right by the road that lead to the main entrance of the stadium.

This location and the spirit of football  in the air makes any UGA tailgator (wait...) tailgater (shew!) develop a case of Tailgating Tourettes Syndrome (TTS) which manifests in an expression of a good ole "Go Dawgs!" for Georgia fans.  It was a great weekend...good company...good food...and a safe trip.   The football game did happen, but we won't go there.